Outside the Beltway

In a truly bizarre move, Netflix is spinning off the DVD-by-mail business that built them into an international brand and going stream-only. Those wishing to keep getting movies will have to sign on to something called Qwikster.

Derek Thompson argues that “the real reason Americans fell so squeezed” is our obsession with productivity.

Netflix will charge $7.99 for streaming video; it’s now a $2 add-on.

Beck heads to the internet.

Video entertainment is moving in two seemingly opposite directions simultaneously.

Changing economic realities led to a role reversal: television is where you turn for smart entertainment, whereas the movies have become lowbrow.

Blockbuster is trying to reorganize itself, but it’s probably too late.

Has the digitization of entertainment — DVRs, iPods, iPods, digital cameras, Netflix, and so forth — transformed it from fun into work?

Wired proclaims, “The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet.” It’s great linkbait but completely wrongheaded.

While people keep flocking to Facebook in droves, the site has the lowest satisfaction rating of any e-business site.

Mark Cuban argues that the television networks should do something about a situation where pay for content in order to sell advertising whereas online players like YouTube sell advertising for content others paid for.